


Meeting Christine

by amethyst-noir (Arbonne)



Series: Prompt Collection [105]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Banter, Established Relationship, Fluff, Humor, IronStrange Bingo 2020, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Past Relationship(s), Stephen Strange/Christine Palmer - Freeform, only for a moment or two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:22:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26191867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arbonne/pseuds/amethyst-noir
Summary: Wait a moment. Doctor Palmer. Christine Palmer.Christine.As in:Time will tell how much I love you ~ Christineon the back of Stephen's broken watch.(Tony meets Christine for the first time.)
Relationships: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Series: Prompt Collection [105]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1126062
Comments: 30
Kudos: 151
Collections: IronStrange Bingo 2020





	Meeting Christine

**Author's Note:**

> > _**repair.** being confined to bed due to injury or illness and hating every second of it._
> 
> Finally. The last of the rest prompts. It's a light and fun one because it was time for one of those again. Don't worry, there is absolutely no jealousy happening here. This is about two adult people who both have found exactly the right place in Stephen's life - on as the love of his life and the other as a good friend who just happens to be his ex.
> 
> @ironstrangebingo prompt: _Doctor Palmer_

"How is he?" Tony dared to ask despite the dark look Stephen shot him the moment he opened his mouth to speak.

"Worse than he would be if he had _listened_ to me and _stayed put in bed_."

Tony winced at the almost angry undertone in Doctor Palmer's voice but the patient in question just rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine, Christine," he said for the tenth or so time. When she didn't show any signs of thawing he looked at Tony. "Really," he tried to hammer the point home. "Also: I _am_ in bed." He vaguely gesticulated his and Tony's shared bed, in which he'd been installed after a long and bitter fight with what felt like the entire medical profession of New York City.

Tony was fucking exhausted and he'd only been a bystander to the conflict. Who knew that a twisted ankle could escalate like this?

"Says the man who gave up medicine to join a cult," was her reminder and whoa, that was a bit harsh. Tony instinctively took a step back to escape the inevitable carnage but to his surprise there was only a raspy laugh from Stephen. "You shouldn't have hobbled here on your own two feet. Or rather: Hopped around on the one that still works," she continued mercilessly.

Stephen ignored the last part very elegantly and focused on the first. "It's not a cult." The words had the tone of something often repeated and elicited the first smile Tony had seen on the doctor's face so far.

So, an inside joke. Which he didn't know about. Because this Doctor Palmer was Stephen's old friend and Tony hadn't known about her existence until about two hours ago when Stephen insisted that she was the only one allowed to touch him after he was hurt. It was okay. Tony was an adult. He could totally deal with the fact. He couldn't name one single person of his inner circle Stephen didn't know but okay. Maybe he had forgotten some…

"Earth to Tony." Stephen's voice was a little bit less raspy now and he looked a bit happier now that he was home. "Stop it."

"Stop what?" he asked out of reflex and looked around only to discover that the doctor had vanished.

"Whatever you're obsessing about right now. You didn't even react to Christine's goodbye."

"I'm not…"

"You are. And if you don't stop it I'm going to get up and shake you until it falls out and you want me to stay in bed, like Christine said, right?"

Wait a moment. Doctor Palmer. Christine Palmer. _Christine._ As in: _Time will tell how much I love you ~ Christine_ on the back of Stephen's broken watch.

"She's your ex," he blurted out before biting his lip so hard that he drew blood. _Fuck._

"Yes?" Stephen drew the word out to quadruple its usual length. "What about it?"

"No… nothing. It's just…"

"Tony."

Fuck, now Stephen was making moves to get up and all of Tony's doctorates agreed with the ones at the hospital and the one of Stephen's ex that he should stay in bed.

"She's the one who gave you the watch, right? I've always wondered…" he trailed off. "She must have loved you very much." _And you her. For you to be still wearing her gift_ , he didn't add. He didn't need to.

Instead of the half-expected sarcastic comment he got a quiet sigh. Stephen moved a little bit closer to his side of the bed and very gently patted the space beside him with his right hand. Tony followed the unspoken instruction to settle down. He picked up Stephen's hand and automatically began to carefully massage it like he'd been shown.

Stephen immediately relaxed at the intimate touch. "She did," he finally said. "And I did the same - at least in the way I was able to back then. It wasn't enough. _I_ wasn't enough. She deserved so much more than I was capable of giving her. In the end, I drove her away by lashing out until she finally had enough."

The massage became nonsensical stroking as Tony digested the words. Despite everything he'd heard he could barely imagine the version of Stephen that had once existed. The lashing out in anger thing though? He could totally see that, had experienced it firsthand. Thankfully, he was too fucking stubborn and too used to being screamed at to pack up and leave but he couldn't fault anyone who didn't want to put up with the ultra-asshole version of Stephen.

"That was an asshole move," was his eventual verdict.

"Yes, it was," Stephen agreed with a wistful and sad smile. He raised his left arm and held the broken watch up for inspection. Tony touched the cracked glass with the tips of his index finger, just as carefully as he always touched Stephen's hands. "But this is so much more than a reminder of our relationship." He swallowed. "It's pretty much the only thing I have left of my old life, apart from my friendship with Christine. It's a reminder. Of so many things." He paused, unwilling or unable to continue.

He looked up at Tony and in his eyes there was a universe of pain and memories that could very probably never be shared because there was nobody who could _understand_. Tony hated it, he wanted to truly know the man he loved so badly, but Stephen's experiences were so far outside of even his frame of reference that it was impossible. The realization was still as heartbreaking as it had been the first time and the need to tease out more information evaporated. Not at this price.

"Shh, it's okay," he tried to soothe and bent down to kiss the back of Stephen's hand.

"No it isn't," Stephen said quietly. "But it can't be changed." Tony looked up just in time to see him look at the empty case of the time stone that was sitting on Stephen's nightstand. "Some things should not be changed," he added in an almost inaudible whisper Tony probably wasn't even supposed to hear. He shook his head to drive away whatever dark thoughts had encroached and smiled at Tony. It even looked halfway genuine. "Without me being an asshole back then we wouldn't have found each other."

Tony had to laugh at that. "You're still an asshole, don't ever doubt that, baby." He leaned in for a kiss. "But you're _my_ asshole so I guess it's okay. Besides, it's not like I'm any better." He gently squeezed Stephen's left leg. "But now that your two worlds have collided - do you mind inviting her over again? I'd like to meet your friend properly."

"You just want to team up against me."

"Maybe. It's not like you deserve any better. You've teamed up with Rhodey against me last week so it's only right that I repay the favor!"

That seemed to get Stephen out of the last bit of his funk. He ruefully pointed to his bandaged and elevated ankle. "Guess I don't have anything else to do for the next few days," he sighed. "I'll call her tomorrow and ask when she has time."

"Great. I see if I can get Rhodey and Pep to show up too so that the poor invalid can have some more company. Hey, Wong should be back by tomorrow too, right? Let's make it a party!"

"Don't overwhelm the poor woman!" Stephen protested but Tony waved it away. "And if you think that I'll stay in bed while people are here you can go and reboot that genius brain of yours right now because something vital crashed in there."

"Pfff. Unlike your ankle my brain is fine, thank you. She didn't strike me as the type to be intimidated and the idea of all our friends together in one place is nice, isn't it? We can sit around your sick bed and play UNO. Or maybe annoy you until you beg for mercy. It's kind of what you deserve after today. Idiot who thinks he can walk on a twisted ankle. I don't even want to imagine what you would have had to say if it had been me. Really. But I finally got to meet the mystery woman of your past so I guess that's a good thing."

Stephen smiled at that, a real and happy one at that. Success. Tony grinned back.

"I've never wanted to hide her from you," he said a few moments later. "It's just…"

"Hey," Tony made sure to keep his voice light. "It's okay. Ships in the night and all that. I'm just glad that the stars finally aligned right." His brutal butchering of metaphors had Stephen sputtering and Tony took the rare opportunity of having a speechless Stephen to lean in and kiss him senseless. "You're with me now and that's all that matters," he whispered, secure in the knowledge that he had the last word this time.

Stephen, bastard that he was, pulled back from their kiss just enough to whisper "as if anyone else is crazy enough to deserve me".

In the end, it was Tony who was left speechless, overwhelmed by his sheer love for Stephen.

More kissing was all that was left to do for them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! 🤍
> 
> For anyone wondering about the rather… _mundane_ use of the Eye of Agamotto - the next story that will go up will feature a different approach. It'll also be a lot heavier than this one because melancholy fluff will probably always be the genre I love most.


End file.
